BSEB Class 12 English Rainbow Book Poem 2 Song of Myself Question Answers
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- Song of Myself Textbook Question and Answers
- Song of Myself Multiple Choice Questions
- Song of Myself Extract-Based Questions
BSEB Class 12 English Poem 2 Song of Myself Textbook Question and Answers
B.1. 1. Read the following sentences and write ‘T’ for true and `F’ for false statements :
a) The poet enjoys himself and sings for the self.
b) The speaker is different from others.
c) The poet discards nature’s beauty.
d) Every atom of blood is the same in all human beings.
e) The poet is associated with a particular school of thought.
f) The poet has overcome his greed.
Answer-
a) The poet enjoys himself and sings for the self. True
b) The speaker is different from others. True
c) The poet discards nature’s beauty. False
d) Every atom of blood is the same in all human beings. True
e) The poet is associated with a particular school of thought. True
f) The poet has overcome his greed. True
B.1. 2. Answer the following questions briefly:
Q1) Who is the speaker in this poem?
Answer- Walt Whitman is the speaker in this poem.
Q2) How old is he?
Answer- The poet Walt Whitman was thirty seven years old.
Q3) Why does the speaker use ‘you’ twice?
Answer- The speaker used ‘you’ twice to press on a similarity of blood in all human beings.
Q4) What is meant by ‘Nature without check with original energy’?
Answer- “Nature without check with original energy”,by this line the poet meant that he believed in good and bad aspects of life and he wanted to tell about every danger or fear, which he hoped to acquire through nature without checking unrestricted nature and original energy.
Q5) What is the theme of the poem?
Answer- The theme of the poem ‘Song of Myself’ glorified the self, body, and soul. The poem wanted to emphasise on the idea of the self, the identification of the self with other selves, and the poet’s relationship with the elements of nature and the universe.
Q6) How does the speaker establish relation between ‘me’ and ‘you’?
Answer- The speaker established the relation between ‘me’ and you’ by saying ‘you’ and ‘me’ as equals because according to the poet every atom which belonged to the poet (me) belonged to other human beings (you) as well.
Q7) What does he observe in summer?
Answer- He observed a spear of grass in summer.
Q8) What has formed the speaker’s blood?
Answer- Poet Walt Whitman was the speaker of the poem and his blood was formed from the soil, the air and the birthplace he was living in.
Q9) What does he hope to do?
Answer- The poet hoped that he could work for his entire life before death.
Q10) What does he want to do with creeds?
Answer- He wanted to know the system of thoughts with creeds in abeyance.
Q11) What does he want to speak about?
Answer- The poet wanted to speak about living our lives at its best knowing all the things which could affect it by any means.
C.1. LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS
Q1. Give a summary of the poem.
Answer- ‘Song of Myself‘ was a very nice poem written by Walt Whitman. In this poem, the poet talked about himself. He enjoyed himself and sang for himself. He wanted his readers to know that he was not different from others. He wanted everyone to suppose or accept the truth that even the smallest particle of a chemical element that can exist in his body belonged to his soul. Whatever he explained in the poem he wanted his reader to know was the truth and was coming from his heart. According to the poet, every atom belonged to him belonged to every human being. The two human beings were made of the same soil.The poet used to walk here and there and also invited his soul. He took support, moved and rested according to his comfort. He watched the spiky green grass in the summer that grew everywhere. He enjoyed nature. He even said that his tongue and every small particle of blood that he had in his body was formed by this grass and this air that everyone was living in. He explained how much he loved the world, especially nature, and how everything fits together just as it should.
He was born from his parents ,they were born from their parents & their parents the same . The poet was 37 years old but still in very good health. The poet hoped to stay healthy and fit till his death.
The poet suspended all his religious beliefs and the system of thoughts. He was telling his readers to “retire” what they had learned in school, suspend your formal learning but never forget them.He felt that life was the finest gift given by God. The poet said that everyone should think that there is nothing in life. So, we should always be happy and try to make others happy. The poet said that he always believed in good or bad and he was ready for every danger in nature without checking with the original energy. The poet was ready for every danger in his life. He accepted that life wass no bed of roses. It was full of difficulties and also happiness.
Q2. What similarities does the poet draw between two human beings?
Answer- The poet wanted to say that human beings were the same in many ways as they were born in similar ways. Their blood was the same. Everything was the same in all human beings. Humans were built of the same atom. These were the similarities which Walt Whitman drew between two human beings.
Q3. Explain the line: ‘Hoping to cease not till death’
Answer- The line ‘Hoping to cease not till death’ meant that the poet Walt Whitman had a hope not to stop until he died. The poet talked about various points of hope and dreams and he wanted to celebrate life before his death.
Q4. Comment on the subjectivism (personal feeling) in the poem.
Answer- The poem “Song of Myself’ is written by the poet Walt Whitman. He speaks about himself in this poem and he celebrates his existence in the poem. The poet thinks that everyone has just one life so we should enjoy our life rather than worrying about problems that can come in our lives. He becomes very sad when he sees a human being quarreling with another human being only for religion. The poet suspended his religious beliefs and the system of thoughts. He even told his readers to “retire” what they had learned in school, to suspend their formal learning but never forget them. So this poem is a composition of personal feelings.
Q5. Why does the poet not want to bother himself with ‘Creeds and schools’?
Answer- The poet does not want to bother himself with ‘Creeds and schools’ because he thinks about religious tolerance. His mind is quite free from this problem. He knows that there are different religious beliefs and systems of thoughts in the world. Still, he does not bother himself with it. He knows that everyone is the same in all condition.He even told his readers to “retire” what they had learned in school, to suspend their formal learning but never forget them.He felt that life was the finest gift given by God. The poet said that everyone should think that there is nothing in life. So, we should always be happy and try to make others happy.
Q6. What does the poet mean by ‘Nature without check with original energy’?
Answer- The poet means to say, “nature without check with original energy”, that he believes in good and bad aspects of life and he favors to tell about every danger or fear, which he hopes to acquire through nature without checking unrestricted nature and original energy. The poet is ready for every danger in his life. He accepts that life is no bed of roses. It is full of difficulties and also happiness.
C. 3. COMPOSITION
Write a short essay in about 150 words on the following:
a. Religion does not teach hatred.
Answer- Every individual does not belong to any religion, but immediately after their birth, they were linked to a particular religion. Different people had different beliefs. And due to this belief, many different cultures existed. Over the years rise in the number of ethnic violence erupting for no reasons was another testimony that our planet was rapidly turning into one huge isolating society. People from different caste, creed and religion seemed to have that hate factor deeply inculcated in them for the rest. Any religion which was truly for God would never teach anyone to hate others; rather religion always taught people to forgive, to be kind and to be fair even to those who were not good to you. One should try to have respect for other religions. All religions must be respected equally. Religion would never teach you to kill people of a different religion. We should regard every human being as our brother or sister. People who fought with others in the name of their religion were not followers of their religion. No religion preached violence. If we want others to respect our religion we should also learn to respect others’ religion.
b. Life is a grand battle.
Answer- Life is a battle. No matter how tough or easy a person’s life is, there is always a battle with life. Many times people feel the whole world is against them. There may be a lot of stress and internal conflict within everyone’s battle.There are 7 billion people on this planet and no matter how different we may be from one another we have one thing in common which is Fighting. Whether it is for survival, recognition or even love, we are fighting all the time. Some days we lose, some days we win. But all I know is that it is a never ending struggle. Whether we like it or not. Truth which we all know, but don’t want to admit. We, as human beings, have the power to move mountains but at the same time be destroyed by the slightest ounce of weakness. I agree that man is a social animal and we all need each other. But being dependent on others won’t make your problems go away. So don’t give up easily. Don’t feel bad that you have to fight your fight all by yourself. Don’t be afraid to be left out alone because sometimes only when you are alone, you find yourself.
D. WORD STUDY
D.1. Dictionary Use
Ex.1. Look up a dictionary and write two meanings of the following words – the one in which it is used in the lesson and the other which is more common
assume | observe | form |
cease | school | harbour |
Answer-
Assume
|
Observe
|
Form
|
Cease-
|
School
|
Harbour
|
D.2. Word-formation
Read the following lines carefully:
Hoping to cease not till death
Retiring back a while …………
In the above lines, ‘hoping’ and ‘retiring’ are derived by adding ‘-ing’ to ‘hope’ and ‘retire’ respectively.
Ex.1. Select five words from your day- to- day life and add the suffix ‘-ing’ to them to form new words.
Answer-
Five words used in day-to-day life with suffix-’ing’ are as follows-
- Clean – Cleaning
- Write- Writing
- Sleep- Sleeping
- Cook- Cooking
- Drive- Driving
D.3. Word-meaning
Ex 1. Write the antonyms of the following words and use them in your sentences:
perfect ………….
cease
hope
permit
original
Answer-
Antonyms of the following words are as follows-
1. Perfect- Imperfect
Sentence- After misrepresenting herself on her resume, it was obvious to the company that she was really an imperfect candidate for the job.
2. Cease- Starts
Sentence- The homemade garlic bread is a great start to any meal, as is an order of their calamari
3. Hope- Hopeless
Sentence- We were the most hopeless group of golfers you ever saw.
4. Permit- Refuse
Sentence- The town council had refused permission for the march.
5. Original- Fake
Sentence- A man from Liverpool has been given a suspended jail sentence after selling fake Bristol University degree certificates.
E. GRAMMAR
Ex. 1. Read the following line from the poem:
‘I celebrate myself, and sing myself’
In the given line ‘myself’ is a reflexive pronoun which has been used twice. Its usage in both the clauses is different. In the first clause, it is a reflexive pronoun, but in the second, it is object to a verb (‘sing’).
Supply related reflexive pronouns in the following list:
Pronoun | Reflexive Pronoun |
I | ____________ |
We | ____________ |
You | ____________ |
They | ____________ |
She | ____________ |
He | ____________ |
It | ____________ |
Answer-
Pronoun | Reflexive Pronoun |
I | Myself |
We | Ourselves |
You | Yourself |
They | Themselves |
She | Herself |
He | Himself |
It | Itself |
Ex. 2. Construct meaningful sentences with the help of the following verbs. Do not forget to use ‘reflexive pronouns’ after the verbs; for, these verbs are always followed by them:
enjoy
serve
absent
help
Control
Answer-
- Enjoy- We enjoy ourselves very much.
- Serve- Neha is happy to serve herself.
- Absent- He got absent himself.
- Help- One should always help ourselves.
- Control- He has controlled himself.
BSEB Class 12 English Poem 2 Song of Myself Extra Question and Answers
Multiple Choice Questions
- What is the poet celebrating in the poem?
a) His achievements
b) Himself
c) Nature
d) His family
Ans: b) Himself
- Who is the poet of the poem Song of Myself?
a) Robert Frost
b) Walt Whitman
c) Emily Dickinson
d) William Wordsworth
Ans: b) Walt Whitman
- What does the poet do while loafing?
a) Observes a spear of summer grass
b) Writes poetry
c) Reflects on his achievements
d) Dreams about the future
Ans: a) Observes a spear of summer grass
- What forms the poet’s body, according to the poem?
a) Water and fire
b) Soil and air
c) Light and shadow
d) Spirit and will
Ans: b) Soil and air
- How old is the poet in the poem?
a) 25 years old
b) 30 years old
c) 37 years old
d) 40 years old
Ans: c) 37 years old
- What is the poet’s hope regarding death?
a) To die young
b) To live life fully till death
c) To avoid death completely
d) To welcome death early
Ans: b) To live life fully till death
- What does the poet do with “creeds and schools”?
a) Rejects them entirely
b) Accepts them unconditionally
c) Puts them in abeyance
d) Questions their authority
Ans: c) Puts them in abeyance
- What does the poet mean by “Nature without check”?
a) Controlled nature
b) Nature’s raw and original energy
c) Nature as seen through human intervention
d) Nature as an ideal concept
Ans: b) Nature’s raw and original energy
- What does the poet permit himself to do?
a) Speak at every hazard
b) Silence his thoughts
c) Follow established norms
d) Disregard original energy
Ans: a) Speak at every hazard
- What is the tone of the excerpt?
a) Joyful and self-celebratory
b) Somber and reflective
c) Angry and critical
d) Humble and apologetic
Ans: a) Joyful and self-celebratory
- What does the line “I lean and loafe at my ease” suggest?
a) Hard work
b) Relaxation and contemplation
c) Laziness
d) Ambition
Ans: b) Relaxation and contemplation
- What does the poet mean by “retiring back a while”?
a) Abandoning all responsibilities
b) Reflecting on past ideas without discarding them
c) Giving up on life
d) Focusing on new philosophies
Ans: b) Reflecting on past ideas without discarding them
- What does the phrase “formed from this soil, this air” emphasize?
a) The poet’s connection to nature
b) The insignificance of humans
c) The complexity of life
d) The isolation of individuals
Ans: a) The poet’s connection to nature
- What does the poet invite in the poem?
a) Criticism
b) His soul
c) His family
d) A sense of duty
Ans: b) His soul
- The poet’s mention of “parents and their parents the same” implies:
a) A sense of generational continuity
b) A break from family tradition
c) Conflict with his ancestors
d) Lack of familial roots
Ans: a) A sense of generational continuity
- The poem is written in ______
a) Rhymed couplets
b) rhymed sextets
c) free verse
d) none of these
Ans. c) free verse
- Identify the poetic device used-
“I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass”
a) enjambment
b) anaphora
c) simile
d) antithesis
Ans. b) anaphora
- The poet ________ his soul.
a) hates
b) questions
c) personifies
d) none of these
Ans. c) personifies
- Identity the use of pun.
a) grass
b) spear
c) soul
d) all of these
Ans. b) spear
- Which of the following poetic device has not been used in the poem-
a) Hyperbole
b) enjambment
c) metaphor
d) oxymoron
Ans. d) oxymoron
A. I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass
Q1. What does the poet celebrate in the opening lines of the poem?
Ans: The poet celebrates himself and sings about his individuality.
Q2. What does the poet mean by “what I assume you shall assume”?
Ans: The poet suggests a universal connection, implying that his thoughts and experiences are shared with others.
Q3. What is the significance of the line “for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you”?
Ans: It emphasizes the interconnectedness of all humans and the shared nature of existence.
Q4. What does the poet do while loafing and leaning at ease?
Ans: The poet observes a spear of summer grass, reflecting on the simplicity and beauty of nature.
Q5. How does the poet invite his soul in the poem?
Ans: The poet invites his soul by loafing and contemplating, allowing space for introspection and spiritual connection.
B. My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air
Born here of parents, born here from parents the same, and their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin.
Hoping to cease not till death,
Creeds and schools in abeyance,
Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,
I harbour for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy.
Q1. What does the poet say forms every atom of his blood?
Ans: The poet says every atom of his blood is formed from the soil and air.
Q2. How old is the poet in the poem?
Ans: The poet is thirty-seven years old.
Q3. What is the poet’s attitude toward “creeds and schools”?
Ans: The poet puts creeds and schools in abeyance, acknowledging their value but setting them aside temporarily.
Q4. What does the poet permit himself to do “at every hazard”?
Ans: The poet permits himself to speak freely, regardless of the risks involved.
Q5. What does the phrase “Nature without check with original energy” signify?
Ans: It signifies the poet’s embrace of the unrestrained, raw vitality of nature.